


Soldiers' Daily Lives

by lait_tea1



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo | Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Genre: Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humor, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29801535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lait_tea1/pseuds/lait_tea1
Summary: A collection of written shorts based off headcanons I have for the Seventh Platoon.
Kudos: 2





	1. Laundry pole (Roderick)

**Author's Note:**

> This collection is going to be for headcanons that are either too long for me to explain on Twitter, or extended versions of the headcanons I do put on Twitter. I'm going to guess most of these will be genfic/shenanigans and probably fluff too, but we'll have to see. I'm aware the chapter title uses the fan-translated name, but I think it has a nicer ring than the official title 'the Daily Lives of Warriors', so I'm keeping it for now.
> 
> Anyway, first up: Roderick and his laundry pole. The original headcanon is briefly described [here](https://twitter.com/lait_tea1/status/1360247510296530944).

_Time to do the laundry again._ It’s a familiar routine Roderick falls into: get out the basket of wet clothes, find a good spot, set up the laundry pole…

He pauses as he’s just about to wedge the pole between the two trees. The metallic shaft in his grasp, lightweight and still cool from having recently taken out of its usual cloth wrap, is a familiar, nostalgic feeling.

Roderick spares a glance around. Nobody’s around, especially not this early – he’s the only one here with laundry duty at the moment.

It’s a moment to indulge himself in. Giving in to the temptation, he gives the laundry pole a spin in both hands and nearly drops it.

 _It’s lighter than I remember…_ Of course, it had been a while since he’d actually used it as, well, a makeshift lance of sorts… it’s rather worn out from its previous use as his practice weapon, before he had been able to come to Altea Castle for knight training.

It still works just fine as a regular laundry pole, which is why he’s kept it for this long… and for the nostalgia. It’s one of the few things he has brought with him from home, much to Luke’s bewilderment – _“A laundry pole? Really? That’s the thing you choose to bring around with you from home?”_

 _“Why not?”_ He’d argued, _“It’s a perfectly good tool.”_ He’d had to stop himself from adding _‘It’d work as a good weapon in a pinch’_ , because… well, they were new squires at the time, and it wasn’t as if the castle wasn’t teeming with all sorts of practice weapons. Also, trying to explain its significance to Luke probably wouldn’t have led him anywhere…

Even though he’s a fully fledged knight now, with a vast (or at least, a larger) range of experience with other weapons, holding the laundry pole still feels… right, somehow. Lighter than his usual preferred lance, but it’s practically just holding a regular spear. Perhaps it really would work as a good weapon if time comes, seeing that it’s sturdy enough to have survived this long.

He settles into the combat stance Sir Cain had taught them when they were squires; feet apart, one foot in front of the other. The air cuts easily even with the laundry pole’s lack of a point as he swings, and it’s easy enough to fall back into familiar techniques with lance in hand. With the cool morning air and hazy sun as his only company, it’s like he’s a squire again… or even a young boy, playing pretend with his laundry pole in the backyard while watching over his little sisters.

“Hey, thought I’d find you here – you kinda left this…” Luke abruptly stops talking. There’s a moment of silence before he snorts loudly and covers his mouth. “Rody, what are you doing?”

He gives a start and quickly whips around, dropping the laundry pole this time in his clumsy fumbling.

“…laundry.”

It’s a flimsy excuse. He hadn’t even heard Luke approach, which is just embarrassing, and being caught messing around with a laundry pole when he’s meant to be doing work…

Luke snickers. “Yeah, right, of course… so, like, you know if you want to train, you could just ask Kris, right? He’s probably around here somewhere training as usual, if you feel a particular need to be beaten up this early… though you’d probably want to use something else than a laundry pole. Our inventory is chock full of spears, and this is what you choose to use?”

Roderick huffs in irritation, in some attempt to try hide his mortification, and tries not to sound too defensive. “I was just – reminiscing. I wasn’t planning on using it for actual combat, if that’s what you’re implying…”

“Right…” Luke sounds like he’s about to burst into actual laughter, but surprisingly, he doesn’t say anything more about it. “Yeah, so about your laundry, you kind of left a basket in the corner. Thought I’d be helpful enough to go pick it up and bring it to you instead of waiting for you to realise and make the whole walk back.”

Roderick reaches for the laundry pole, which has rolled away to rest at the base of the tree stump as they were talking. He straightens up and squints suspiciously at Luke. “…that doesn’t sound like you.”

“What–? How is it not–?!”

“For a start, you’re never awake this early, never mind going to check on the laundry when it isn’t your turn…”

Luke looks a little miffed at that. “I’m not that lazy! I can wake up early if I want, you know…”

After a long pause, Luke throws up his hands. “Alright, fine, Cain was going around kicking people out of their tents to make them do work and I decided to just go and look like I’m doing something before he makes me do some other chore. Saw the laundry basket, remembered you had laundry duty, so I came out here. Happy?”

Roderick sighs and glances over at the basket of wet clothes Luke has left on the ground. “…well, regardless of the reasons, thank you for doing that. We would’ve needed the wash the clothes again if we left them wet for too long, so… I appreciate it.”

“There, you see? We both get to do something productive, everyone’s happy.” Luke dusts off his hands and grins. “There you go, so that was my chore for the day. Breakfast should be being served soon, so you should come join us whenever you’re done.”

Luke pats Roderick on the shoulder as he turns to leave. “By the way, your laundry pole’s looking a little worse for wear. If you like training with it that much, you might as well get a new one.”

“I _like_ my laundry pole–! I’m not going to replace it–” Then Roderick pauses, and then–

“And just because you see me using it once, it doesn’t mean planning to start using it as an actual weapon in battle…!”

“Right, right,” Luke calls over his shoulder as he saunters off, “Whatever you say…!”


	2. Bugs (Seventh Platoon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seventh Platoon and bugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fairly short piece about the Seventh Platoon and their reactions to bugs... (or, in this case, their reactions to a singular bug)
> 
> Original headcanon posted on Twitter [here](https://twitter.com/lait_tea1/status/1363512038169829381).

A terrified scream rang out from the room next door.

This was, unfortunately, rather normal for their platoon. However, the fact it was Luke’s scream and Cecil was sitting on the bed right next to hers made it slightly abnormal… though, probably not by much, now that Katarina was thinking about it. There were plenty of other girls that lived in the squires’ quarters that could generate the same reaction from Luke, especially since they were knights in training that were often equipped with pointy weapons…

“What’s he up to this time?” Cecil complained, already standing up to stride out of the room. Katarina followed behind, after putting down her book on her desk.

She nearly ran directly into Cecil’s back as she turned the corner.

“What is it?” Katarina asked, trying to peer over Cecil’s shoulder.

“Ew. That’s disgusting. No, I’m leaving, this isn’t my problem.” Cecil abruptly turned around from where she had frozen in the doorway and crashed into Katarina at once, sending them both to the floor.

Luke shrieked again. “It’s moving, why did you do that–?! No, don’t climb on my bed–!”

“…are you alright?” A hand appeared in Katarina’s field of vision from where she was sprawled across the floor. She followed the arm up to meet Kris’s concerned gaze.

“Ah… I’m fine.” She took the offered hand, and Kris pulled her to her feet with little to no effort. 

Cecil scrambled to her feet as well and immediately took cover around one end of the doorway. She peered back into the room seconds later. “Stop screaming, Luke, you’re making it move around – I don’t want to see it anywhere close to my room!”

The thing in question, which Katarina could finally get a proper look at, was… a black speck on the floor. No, it was larger than just a speck – she could see spindly legs, two antennae…

She sighed with relief. “Oh, it’s just an insect…”

“Just?!” Luke insisted, voice rising in pitch. “It’s a bug! In my room! I don’t want to wake up one morning and find it crawling on my face!”

Cecil shuddered from her hiding spot by the doorway. “I don’t want to think about that, stop talking–!”

“I don’t want it to happen to me either!”

Kris sighed. “Seriously, it’s just a bug. Just leave it–”

“No!”

“…I leave for three minutes, and… what’s with all the ruckus?”

“Oh, hey Roderick.” Kris said, shuffling aside to let the other squire enter his room. “The usual, really. Luke’s screaming, there’s a bug.”

“I don’t care what you do with it, just don’t let it anywhere near my room.” Cecil muttered.

“A bug?” Ryan popped up from behind Katarina. “…just open a window, then?”

“That was literally the way it got in – what if more bugs get in?” Luke flailed an arm at the tiny creature still sitting on the floor in the middle of the room. “And no way am I touching that thing – you can do it!”

Ryan made a face. “I don’t want to touch the bug…”

“Then why say anything in the first place–?!”

“He’s only trying to help you, Luke.” Roderick pointed out. “…and you don’t have to be constantly shouting. It’s not going to hurt you… you’re thousands of times its size.”

Cecil huffed. “While I agree Luke should shut up about it, somebody better do something about it. I don’t want it in my room either.”

Katarina blinked. “Well, it’s not too bad, you know… the bugs don’t really do much. Sleeping with rats around, though… that’s a little more bothersome to deal with.”

Ryan glanced over at Katarina nervously. “…what?”

Kris sighed and rubbed at an ear. “Okay, you know what? Fine, Luke, what if _I_ take it outside?”

“Please.”

Kris shook his head as he picked his way past Ryan and headed towards the centre of the room. Luke grimaced and made sure to stand as far as possible – which was just the other corner of the room, but still.

Kris bent down and promptly made a grab for the bug with one hand.

It instantly shot out of reach and up into the air, wings buzzing – Ryan jumped at that, while Luke shrieked again and dove for the other corner of the room.

Kris made another grab at it. “Ah, there you go, caught it.”

Luke, who was now at the other corner of the room, flapped a hand at Kris. “Great, excellent, now _please_ get it out.”

Kris shrugged. “Sure.”

He ambled over to the window. With his left hand, he pushed open the window, then wound back his right arm–

“There you go.” Kris said, peering out at wherever the poor insect was hurtling away at top speed. “That’s settled, so can you please stop screaming now?”

“…was that really necessary?”

Kris gave Roderick an odd look. “Was what necessary? I got rid of it.”

“Um…” Katarina blinked, still caught up in her own bewilderment, and only managed a weak smile in response. “That’s… good. But, uh, you could’ve just… put it down… outside?”

“Could’ve what now?”

Luke sighed in relief and waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah, it’s fine, as long as it’s out.”

“Does that mean all this mayhem will be over?” Cecil muttered, still behind the wall.

“…I guess so.” Katarina shrugged and looked over at her. “Are you… fine?”

Cecil scoffed and peeled herself away from the wall. “What? Of course I am. I’m going back to my room.”

“Um, okay…” Katarina spared Luke and Roderick’s room one last glance; the former had rushed to close the window, while the latter was just sitting on his bed looking tired… or perhaps he was just disappointed. Probably disappointed, actually, seeing that he was the one rooming with Luke…

_…well, I’m glad that’s over. I still don’t understand what he finds so terrifying about a small insect, though… maybe it’s just something I’ll never understand…_


End file.
